


An Instant Connection

by Just_a_kid_at_heart



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Family Feels, Fraser Family Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:11:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_a_kid_at_heart/pseuds/Just_a_kid_at_heart
Summary: At a community center event orphan Fergus meets Faith and Brianna Fraser. After a fun day of pay together one little Fraser is not prepared to leave their newfound friend behind.





	An Instant Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes a line just pops into your head. In this case it was “Com’on Gus, time go home.” This story is the result of that line. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful @ianmuyrray for betaing and pointing out those little things that I always overlook. You’re the best.

Fergus didn’t know why he was here. No, that was wrong. He did know why he was here. His social worker at the group home had told him that this was mandatory, but he did not understand what the point of coming to this event was. The community center was sponsoring a play day for younger kids this summer. It gave the older kids a chance to do some community service while giving parents a break from their kids. But this event wasn’t the same for the kids from the group home. Pretending they were all normal and just regular kids volunteering at a community event was great, but really all it did was remind them they weren’t the same as everyone else. Watching loving parents drop their kids off for a simple day of fun drove home they didn’t have a Mom or Dad coming to pick them up when this was all over.

“Claudel!” Fergus rolled his eyes as Mrs. Monroe called his given name. Everyone else seemed to accept that he went by Fergus, but Mrs. Monroe was the lone holdout, refusing to call him anything other than the name written on his birth certificate.

“Oui, Mrs. Monroe.” Fergus smiled, trying to be as charming as possible. “How can I help? Something we are missing, perhaps? I would be happy to run and get it for you.” Anything to avoid interacting with the little kids today.

“Why yes, there is.” Mrs. Monroe smirked, stepping aside to reveal two little girls. “This is Faith and Brianna Fraser. They just arrived to the event. I think it would be perfect if I paired you with them today.”

“Paired?”

“Yes, we are pairing everyone together so they have a buddy for the day. Since Brianna is only three, I thought it would be a good idea to keep her with her sister, and I have decided that you will be their big buddy.”

Fergus could see the smug look on Mrs. Monroe’s face, she was getting wise to his charms and tricks. He should have seen this coming. Now he would have two little girls trailing him all day.

“Have fun,” Mrs. Monroe said as she walked away from the children. “I would head towards the playground if you are looking for somewhere to start,” she added as a last bit of advice.

Fergus blinked out of his stupor, still in a state of shock at what had just happened.

The little red-haired girl in front of him broke away from the sister holding her hand, and before Fergus knew what was happening, she was hugging him tight around his middle. 

The other little girl, with curly brown hair, stood still, watching her sister attach herself to this strange boy. “That’s Bree, and I’m Faith,” she added with a small wave. “What’s your name?”

Looking from the girl attached to his waist up to the other, Fergus figured he might as well introduce himself, if these two girls were to be his shadows for the day. “My name is Fergus. Would you like to go play on the playground?”

Bree’s eyes light it up at Fergus’ suggestion. She loved the playground; it was her favorite moment when Mama or Da would take her to the park and let her play on the jungle gym. She detached herself from Fergus and took off like a shot towards the playground.

Not having much experience with little children, given that most of the kids at his home were around his age, Fergus wasn’t sure what to do when Bree took off running. He guessed chase her down, but what about her sister, he couldn’t leave her alone either! Fortunately, fate made that decision for him as the older girl took off running after her sister yelling. “Wait! Bree! You can’t run off by yourself!” Fergus sighed, this would be a long day, and followed.

By the time Fergus caught up to them, Bree was climbing her way to the top of the slide. He got there just in time as she missed a rung and nearly tumbled down to the ground. Fergus caught her before she fell.

His heart leapt in his chest -- oh god,what if this little girl got hurt on his watch? What would happen to him then? How much trouble would he be in if one of these privileged little girls got hurt? 

“What are you doing!” Fergus yelled at her. “You could have gotten really hurt if you fell! Do you know how much trouble I could get in if one of you got hurt?” 

Bree burst into tears and launched herself into Faith’s arms.

Though Fergus knew nothing about the Frasers, he soon learned how stubborn and protective they could be as five-year-old Faith Fraser addressed him directly. “You don’t have to be so mean. Bree is still little, and she loves going down the slide at the park by our house, but that park has different stairs than this one. Now apologize.”

Fergus felt ashamed. Here was this little girl, lecturing him. Wasn’t he supposed to be the responsible one, the older one? He had no clue how to look out for little kids.

Bending down to be on the same level as Bree, Fergus tapped her shoulder to get her attention. He could see the tears streaks down her face and felt a pang of guilt at having put them there. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, I should not have done that, but it terrified me you could get hurt.”

Although stubborn, Frasers were also forgivers, and for little Bree, Fergus’s apology seemed heartfelt, so she decided she would forgive him.

“Wha happen, if I hurt?”

Fergus sighed, he didn’t necessarily want to tell these little girls his story, but he could only imagine how mad Mrs. Monroe would be if he had to tell her that one of them had injured themselves on his watch.

“Well, Mrs. Monroe would probably yell at me, then when I go back to the house, they would assign me some extra chores as a punishment, and they would call my social worker.”

“Whas that?” Brianna questioned, always curious about things she didn’t know.

“Umm,” Fergus began, unsure of which part she was talking about. “What’s what?”

“A showal woker,” Bree clarified.

Faith, trying to help clarify further, stated, “Social worker, Bree.”

“That,” Bree agreed, pointing at Faith for extra emphasis.

“Oh.” Fergus was still struggling with how to explain everything to them. How did he simplify a social worker down to something they could understand? “Well… um… a social worker is a person who helps makes sure kids who don’t have parents are ok. She checks in with me to make sure that everything is fine.”

“So, you don’t have a Mama or Da?” Faith questioned.She’d never thought about kids without parents. “I don’t know what I would do without Mama or Da.”

“No, I don’t, but my social worker hopes that maybe someday I will,” he explained, trying to pretend like his situation had hope, and not showing the fear that he never would have a family. “But, that’s not important, I thought someone wanted to slide.” Fergus looked at Bree as he said this, hoping the enthusiasm for the slide from before would help to end this topic of discussion.

Bree jumped up and down excitedly. “Yes, peez!”

“Of course, petite mademoiselle, let me help you up the ladder this time, so you will not fall.”

Faith looked on as Fergus helped Bree to the top of the slide, and she debated telling him that Bree liked someone at the bottom to catch her, but Bree had already shouted out for Fergus to do just that. She watched, still thinking about what Fergus had told them about his life. She didn’t fully understand, and she would have to remember to ask Mama about it all when they were home.

“Faith, com’on!” Bree called out to her sister. Faith ran off to join in the playing, she would worry about the rest later.

\--------------------------------------------

Jamie and Claire arrived at the community center to pick up their children, hoping the girls enjoyed their day. A nurse at the hospital, who volunteered at the community center had mentioned this event, and Claire thought this would be a good chance for the girls to engage with other kids, and give her and Jamie a rare day to themselves.

Claire and Jamie approached the pick up table. “Hello, we are here to get Faith and Bree Fraser.”

A large woman in a floral dress checked the list to see who was their big buddy for the day. “Ah, yes, the girls are with Claudel. I believe they are over on the playground. I can send a child to retrieve them if you would like.” She gestured, indicating to a small group of children sitting behind her, waiting to head back to the group home.

“No, that’s all right, Mrs.…” Jamie paused looking down at the name tag. “Monroe, we are happy to walk over there and grab them ourselves.”

“Just make sure you come back here to sign them out officially for the day, and also, let us mark Claudel back into the group home group.”

They approached the playground, happy to see the clear joy on their girls’ faces as they played with other children. 

“Almost makes me want to not disturb them,” Jamie commented to Claire.

“I know, but it has been a long day, and I doubt Bree has had a nap. I would love to get her home and fed before she passes out and is dead to the world.”

“Aye, I understand,” Jamie answered his wife, turning to call out to the girls. “Faith! Bree!”

Faith and Bree turned towards the sounds of their names. Smiling, so excited to see their parents, they ran off into Jamie and Claire’s arms.

“My little loves,” Claire began as she squeezed Faith a little tighter. “Did you two have a good day?”

Always ready with something, Bree rambled off all that they had played during the day to her Mama held tightly in her father’s arms. “We pay slide, money bas, sings, eveyting.”

“Sounds like you did just about everything.” Bree nodded her head at her Da’s comment.

“Well, are you two ready to go home?” Claire questioned figuring Bree had finished her play-by-play.

“Uh-huh!” Bree answered as she pushed down on her father’s hold to get him to put her down. Jamie obliged and as soon as Bree’s feet hit the ground she was running over to a boy on the other side of the playground. Tugging on his arm and dragging him over to where her parents stood.

“Com’on Gus, time go home”

Jamie and Claire exchanged a look. This would be a difficult conversation to have with their youngest daughter. Bree’s heart was always so full of love, she wanted to bring everyone and everything home with her, the ducks from the park, the leaves she found in the backyard, her daycare teacher. It was an ordeal lately, anytime they left a place Bree had found something special.

Claire bent down to be on the same level as her daughter. “Bree, honey, I’m glad you made a new friend, but he has his own home he will have to go back to. He doesn’t live at our house.”

“NOOOOOO!” Bree yelled, stomping her foot and crossing her arms. “I wan Gus to com ome!”

“Brianna!” Jamie intervened, doing his best to stop this before his three-year-old broke out in a full-blown tantrum. “Now you know yelling is not the way to get what you want. You are becoming a big girl and you use your nice words, you don’t shout demands.”

Bree stopped, her Da’s tone did not sound good, but she really wanted Fergus to come home with them. He was so sad at his home and he would be so happy with them. This wasn’t like the ducks at the pond or her preschool teacher who would all be fine where they were. Fergus needed them. What had Da said? She needed to use her nice words to ask for what she wanted.

“Sowry, Da,” Bree began, “Gus pleez com ome?”

Claire and Jamie smiled at each other. They were glad their daughter had calmed down from her tantrum, but it didn’t change that this boy could not come home with him.

“Bree, dear,” Claire sat down on the ground as she pulled Bree into her lap. “You have to come home with us, but…” Claire cut off, not remembering the boy’s name.

“Fergus,” Faith supplied from behind her mother.

Nodding in thanks to her eldest, Claire continued “Fergus cannot come home with us, he doesn’t live there.”

Bree frowned, “But Gus all alone.”

Jamie and Claire exchanged glances once more, not fully understanding what Bree meant when she said Fergus was all alone. This conversation was not going the way it usually did. “Now Bree, just because Fergus doesn’t have a sister or a brother,” assuming that is what she meant, “like you do, doesn’t mean that he is all alone. I’m sure that his parents would worry if he wasn’t here when they came to pick him up.”

“But Gus no has a Mama or Da.” Bree said looking up sadly at her parents.   
Claire looked at her older daughter for some extra explanation. Bree, being only three, rushed to conclusions and didn’t fully understand things. Faith was a bright girl who listened carefully and might have a much better idea of what the situation actually was.

Faith walked over and laid a hand on her sister’s shoulder. She had seen how attached Bree had been to Fergus all day. While Faith had played with other children who had come to the event, Bree had stuck like glue to Fergus. Honestly, Faith had been a little relieved. It was always a lot of effort to keep up with Bree rushing from place to place, but Bree also never liked to be alone, so most of the time Faith stayed by her side. This day was a wonderful break from the chaos of her sister because of Fergus. She was very thankful for him, and she hoped that by explaining what was going on to her mother, they could help him out.

“Bree’s right, Mama,” Faith began, “Fergus told us he doesn’t have any parents. He lives at a children’s home with a bunch of other kids who are all alone. He said he has a social worker who makes sure he is ok, but I don’t think that is the same as a parent. I was going to ask you about what a social worker does later.”

Claire smiled at her daughter. Faith was always coming home from school with extra questions about things she had learned during the day. “No, sweetheart, a social worker is not the same thing as a parent, but unfortunately, just because Fergus doesn’t have parents doesn’t mean that he can come home with us.”

Bree immediately burst into tears at Claire’s latest statement. She loved Fergus, and he needed a family, she didn’t understand why he couldn’t just come home with them. Claire hugged her youngest tightly, attempting to comfort her as the situation was not going how she had wanted. As she did, she looked to her right to see the young boy who had caused all this trouble tapping Bree on her shoulder to get her attention.

Fergus had been standing awkwardly to the side since Bree had pulled him over to her mother and father. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do. He should just return to the front and wait with the rest of kids from the home, but something had happened to him playing with these girls today. He felt protective of them and wanted to make sure they went home happily with their mother and father before he returned to his life. This was not how he had pictured his day going at all.

“Bree,” Fergus began, as Bree turned her head in his direction fighting back her sobs. “Thank you for inviting me to come to your house, but I think if I don’t go back to the home with the other kids, Mrs. Monroe will be very mad at me. Remember, we don’t want to make her mad. So you can go home with your mom and dad and I will go back to my home. You don’t have to worry about me. I will be fine.”

Bree sniffled and hugged her mother tighter. “But you be all lone. Don wan you be lone.”

“I’m not all alone at the home,” Fergus tried to explain. “There are other kids there.”

This explanation didn’t have the effect that Fergus had hoped for as Bree burst into a whole new set of tears. “Wan you with me!” Bree almost shouted through her tears.

Claire looked at Jamie, unsure of what they should do to rectify this situation. Bree had had meltdowns before, but she was taking this to a whole new level. There was no way that this boy could go home with them, but at the moment, that seem to be the only thing that would console Bree at all.

Jamie reached down to pick up Bree from Claire’s lap and allow her a moment to get off the ground. Faith walked over to where her mother now stood, leaning into her side, tired from a long day. 

“Mama?” Faith asked. “I know Fergus can’t come home with us now, but could he come visit us some other time, or could we visit him at his house?”

Jamie and Claire considered this--they would need to have a much longer discussion when they got home, as to the logistics of everything, but if this could end the tantrum, having the boy over for a day would be more than worth it. Jamie bounced Bree in his arms to get her attention. “Mo nighean bheag ruadh, I know Fergus cannot come home with us now, but what if he came for a visit on another day? That way you can play with him again.”

Bree stopped her crying and looked at her Da. She still wanted Fergus to come home with them right this instance, but it sounded like that wasn’t going to happen. Maybe he could stay when he came to visit later. 

“He stay?” she questioned.

Jamie chuckled, Bree’s Fraser stubbornness was coming alive today. “We’ll see. I think your mother and I need to have a long talk before we make any promises like that. And to have that discussion we have to get you two little Frasers home, fed, and in bed first. So, are we finally ready to go home?”

Bree nodded at her father’s question and once again pushed his chest to be let down from his arm. Reluctant to set her down given what had happened last time, he relented when she resorted to kicking. It would be better to put her down and scoop her back up if she made another run for it than to deal with the bruised ribs she will give him if she kept kicking.

Bree ran over to Fergus and wrapped him in the biggest hug she could manage. “Bye, Gus! Com soon. Then stay foever.”

Jamie and Claire’s hearts melted at the sheer love and devotion their youngest was showing. Never one to be showed up by her sister, Faith walked over to join in the hug. Thanking Fergus for a wonderful day and adding her hope of seeing him soon.

This outpouring of love overwhelmed Fergus. No one had ever shown this kind of love and care after just one day of meeting him. It’s not like anyone at the group home abused him or anything, but with the amount of kids there, it was also easy to fall through the cracks. For the first time in years, Fergus felt the slightest glimpse of hope at a happy future.


End file.
